No. 50: Smothered Breakfast Burritos at Chickee’s Lil Kitchen 4340 Zuni Street 720-329-3980 In a cute neighborhood with a perky name like Sunnyside, what could be more appropriate than a breakfast and lunch eatery so small you have to order from a walk-up window? Owner Harriett Sanchez might be willing…
For two decades, Taste of Thailand has been serving delicious Thai cuisine to healthcare workers, neighbors and other regulars, who all flock to the cozy dining room in Englewood; fans swear by chef/owner Noy Farrell’s “flu shot soup” to ward of winter malaise. She and and her husband, Rick Farrell,…
When you’re looking for a hearty dish that will fill you up without that, “yuck, I just ate my body weight in something I shouldn’t have” feeling, look no further than the sweet potato gnocchi at Harman’s Eat + Drink in Cherry Creek North. This seasonal dish from chef John…
Famous chefs are all over this weekend, duking it out Iron Chef-style in Cherry Creek and in your living rooms on PBS. But if you’re preoccupied by Valentine’s Day blues, Blackbird has a casual event for singles that might just lighten your mood. And on Saturday, get your chance to…
Two new cafes have opened on the west side of town, one in Lakewood and one in an appendage of Denver that pokes into the spawling suburb just off Sheridan Boulevard. The French Press Cafe and Bakery (the second branch of the original in Aurora) was forced to close in…
When it opened almost three decades ago, Paris on the Platte was a bright light on a very dim stretch. Over the years, Paris grew from a coffee house to a wine bar to a music venue to a favorite gathering place — and this block of Platte Street grew,…
Not all steaks need sauce. But some do: Filets, for example, often benefit from the added flavor. And even if a steak doesn’t need a pick-me-up, sometimes you want one anyway — just because. That’s why Butcher’s Bistro, which I just reviewed, took a step in the right direction when…
Chinese New Year falls on February 19 this year; celebrations and feasts traditionally last for two weeks (at least in China), making February the perfect month to sample your way through the city’s best noodle houses, wok kitchens and dim sum eateries. Although two of our favorites, Chef Liu’s Authentic…
Star power definitely influences our restaurant choices. Knowingly or not, names like Frank Bonanno and Jennifer Jasinski are big neon signs in our minds, flashing “Quality.” And there are few bigger stars in this town’s scene than Keegan Gerhard, by virtue of having appeared in millions of living rooms on…
Scott Spears, Arvada native and owner of Scrumptious Ice Cream, just opened School House Kitchen and Libations on Tuesday in Olde Town Arvada in a former school house originally built in 1882. The spacious bar and restaurant features a towering bar of whiskeys with bottles that line shelves all the…
We all have a knife or two in our kitchen cabinets, but it’s tough to wield a blade effectively. And you’d rather keep ten fingers, right? Cook Street School of Culinary Arts is providing an essential tool for your cooking repertoire with a knife skills class tonight at 6 p.m…
No. 51: Nashville Hot Chicken at Lou’s Food Bar 1851 West 38th Avenue 303-458-0336 On a recent trip to Nashville, Tennessee to scout potential locations for a new incarnation of his East Coast-style deli, Salt & Grinder, Frank Bonanno sampled his way through some of the city’s hot chicken, a…
Cherry Creek North was a top destination neighborhood in the 1980s and ’90s; longtime Denverites still fondly recall meals at the Fourth Story, Mel’s Bar and Grill, the Bay Wolf, Bistro Adde Brewster, Papillon and many others. But as hipper neighborhoods with cheaper rents became more popular with restaurateurs and…
Ryan Skeels pops the bung on an oak bourbon barrel and peers into the hole with a flashlight. “Oh, yeah, there’s a lot still in there,” he says. A half a bottle’s worth of whiskey sits at the bottom, having leached out of the wood in the days since Laws…
“To anyone who gives a shit” — that’s how Renegade Brewing founder Brian O’Connell began his open letter concerning Anheuser Busch’s now infamous craft-beer-bashing Super Bowl commercial and its recent purchase of two craft breweries. “Buyouts have been a hot topic lately with the recent purchase of 10 Barrel Brewing…
Chipotle Mexican Grill is everywhere — on street corners and in the news. Yesterday the company announced that its fourth quarter earnings rose 52 percent. Bloomberg Business just published “The Definitive Oral History of Chipotle,” a fascinating look at the $22 billion burrito business that Steve Ells started in a…
Kristen and David Lewis Brewshine BBQ & Tap House 3109 Federal Boulevard 303-561-1111 For Brewshine BBQ & Taphouse, Kristen and David Lewis took over a building near the corner of Federal and Speer boulevards that had recently seen a couple of pizza places come and go; before that, it was…
Butcher’s Bistro 2233 Larimer Street 303-296-2750 Journalists are taught not to “bury the lede,” which is newspaper-speak for remembering to put the most important information first. If you’re writing about a fire, for example, you don’t want to wait until the tenth paragraph to tell people when and where the…
Local burger chain Good Times Burgers & Frozen Custard has taken umbrage with Carl’s Jr.’s “banned” Super Bowl commercial that claims it has the first all-natural fast-food burger. Since Good Times has been serving natural beef since 2003, the homegrown chain decided to give its flashier rivals a good-natured ribbing…
Chef and restaurateur Frank Bonanno’s Colorado-centric food show, Chef Driven, is entering its second season, with six new episodes ready to air beginning Saturday, February 7, a 1:30 p.m. on Rocky Mountain PBS. Last season followed Bonanno, owner of Mizuna, Bones, Osteria Marco and several other Denver eateries, around Colorado…
When Teriyaki Madness, a fast-casual Asian chain based in Las Vegas, opened its first Denver franchise last May, the company promised the same “frenzy experienced by our raving fans who desire to have our dishes daily.” Apparently the frenzy was short lived, as the sole metro location, tucked into the…
Last year Chipotle and Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything Is Illuminated and Eating Animals, teamed up on “Cultivating Thought,” a series of short essays from ten writers and “thought leaders” printed on Chipotle drinking cups and paper bags. Chipotle and Foer are now back at it, releasing a second…
